This invention relates generally to golf bags, and relates more particularly to a pullable golf bag having deployable wheels.
Golf is an activity enjoyed by many people. A typical round of golf involves nine or eighteen holes over a distance of several thousand yards. Some participants choose to cover this distance by riding in motorized carts, while others walk around the golf course. Among those who walk, some people carry their golf clubs in a bag, and others pull their golf bags on a wheeled cart.
A golf pull cart typically has two wheels, and can be motorized or non-motorized. Various designs have been proposed for such pull carts with wheels that are alternately extendable or retractable. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,059 shows a golf bag pull cart having integral extendable rollers and a handle. This pull cart has a base that includes a wheel recess which at least partially accept the retracted wheels.
Non-motorized pull carts can weigh between about three pounds for a basic model, to thirteen pounds or more for a robust, all-terrain model. The average weight is approximately ten pounds. The golf bag averages six pounds, and when miscellaneous items such as balls, tees, gloves, rule books, etc. are included, the weight of the bag and items may approach ten pounds. A participant is allowed to carry a maximum of fourteen clubs, each weighing approximately a pound. The total weight of the pull cart, bag, golf items, and clubs can therefore exceed thirty pounds.
Participants that pull their golf bags on a cart typically are required to go through the following process before their round of golf. A participant most likely to drive to a golf course, therefore, they will pull their golf bag and cart from a storage place, either attached together or separate. They will carry or pull the approximately thirty-plus pounds of golf equipment to their vehicle, lift the approximately thirty-plus pounds and place it into their trunk or storage area of the vehicle. When they arrive at the golf course, they must lift the approximately thirty-plus pounds of golf equipment out of their vehicle, extend the wheels, and then begin pulling their golf equipment to their intended destination. The majority of the golfing public, from the beginning amateur to the professional, normally deems these processes to complex and atypical.
Many participants find the processes are also cumbersome, laborious and potentially fraught with injury from lifting the heavy objects in and out of their vehicles"" trunk or storage area. Therefore, they forego the bulky cart aspect of this process and determine to carry the golf equipment (now absent the cart) and back on their shoulders now weighing just approximately twenty-four pounds while walking throughout their participation on the golf course.
While this eliminates the issues associated with pull carts, that being they are cumbersome and heavy, many participants find that carrying approximately twenty-four pounds of golf equipment for the entire round of golf can also become laborious and fraught with injury. Participants who routinely carry their golf equipment on their shoulder(s) complain of back strains and shoulder soreness from lifting, carrying, and setting down the golf bag between shots.
A benefit of walking during golf is the exercise achieved. Many participants desire to achieve this exercise through walking on the golf course, but dislike the cumbersome, complicated and atypical processes associated with attached pull carts. Others desire to walk, but dislike having to carry their equipment on their shoulder(s) for an entire walk over thousands of yards of the golf course, which can last upwards of five hours. In fact, very few sports, with the exception of archery (carrying a quiver on the shoulder for arrows) biathlons (skiing with a rifle on the shoulder) have as the norm carrying equipment between specific activities in the conduct of the sport, especially equipment weighing approximately twenty-four pounds.
The present invention is an actuator for a golf bag having a handle and at least one wheel movable between first and second positions. The actuator comprises a frame, a first link engaged with the handle and engaged with the frame, and a second link. The second link is engaged with the at least one wheel, engaged with the frame, and engaged with the first link. The first and second links are movable to move the wheels between the first and second positions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an actuator of the type described above that moves the wheels between extended and retracted positions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf bag of the type described above that can be carried or pulled over the ground.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the invention rather than limiting, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.